Taro Izumi
In 2014 the Follow Fluxus―After Fluxus Grant awarded the 7th time in a row by the Hesse State Capital Wiesbaden and the Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden goes to the artist Taro Izumi (b. 1976, Nara, Japan).
The scholarship was initiated in 2008 and sets the goal in furthering international young artists who take up and refine the ideas of the art movement of Fluxus in their work. In addition to a prize money to the amount of 10.000 € the grant contains a three-monthly work stay as well as a solo exhibition in the Kunstverein (September 2014 to May 2015) including a publication.
The five-person jury 2014 was composed of Mihoko Nishikawa, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Nina Tabassomi, curator at Fridericianum in Kassel, Michael Berger, Fluxus art collector and patron, Wiesbaden, Dr. Isolde Schmidt, cultural department of the State Capital Wiesbaden, and Elke Gruhn, artistic management, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden. The jury came to a selection decision out of 48 nominations.
Taro Izumi’s works are playful and characterized by spontaneity and originality. With his expansive and performative installations that are reminiscent of board games, he transfers the concept of Homo ludens in artistic practice. With his works closely linked to coincidence, they entail risks: the artist as a player abides to previously set rules of the game, but the outcome of the game, which for humans is an elementary need to make it meaningful, is always uncertain. Often, Izumi invites the viewer to become players in his artistic cosmos, to break viewing habits and to acquire the new reality. With his installation “Tsubo† (The Metro) at the Yokohama Triennale in 2011 he gained international attention.
Taro Izumi (born in 1976 in Nara, Japan) is the seventh winner of the Follow Fluxus residency. He was nominated by Fumio Nanjo, director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.
The scholarship began in 2008 and aims to promote young international artists, whose work honors, and further develops the Fluxus art movement. In addition to a cash prize of €10,000, the grant includes a three month residency (June to August 2014) in the capital of Hesse at the Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, a solo exhibition at the Kunstverein (September 2014-May 2015), and a corresponding publication.
The 2014, five-member jury was composed of Mihoko Nishikawa, curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; Nina Tabassomi, curator at the Fridericianum in Kassel; Michael Berger, Fluxus collector and patron, and Wiesbaden resident; Dr. Isolde Schmidt, head of the Culture Department of the City of Wiesbaden; and Elke Gruhn, Artistic Director of the Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden. The jury chose Izumi from a pool of 48 nominations.
Taro Izumi’s work is playful and characterized by spontaneity and originality. Izumi often utilizes space with performative installations reminiscent of games, invoking the concept of Homo Ludens in his artistic practice. Though the artist becomes an actor that must adhere to predefined rules of his “games,† his work examines risk and chance and subsequently has uncertain, varying outcomes. Izumi often invites spectators to become players in his artistic cosmos, breaking their viewing patterns and introducing them to a new reality. Izumi gained international attention with his installation Tsubo (The Metro) at the Yokohama Triennial in 2011.
